Eye on investors, UP to hold its first NRI Diwas in Jan

LUCKNOW: With an aim to invite non-resident Indians from Uttar Pradesh to invest here and help them reconnect with their roots, the state government has decided to organise the first UP NRI Diwas on January 4 and 5 in Agra.

With 350 NRIs already registered for the two-day event and more registrations expected, all eyes will be on the UP government’s programme scheduled days before the Union government’s 14th Pravasi Bharatiya Diwas to be held from January 8 to 10 in New Delhi.

“We are getting a good response from the NRIs for UP NRI Diwas. Soon, we will begin reviewing the preparations for the event,” chief secretary Alok Ranjan said.

After the success of the 13th Pravasi Bharatiya Diwas that took place in Gujarat in January this year, chief minister Akhilesh Yadav had expressed the UP government’s desire to host the 14th NRI Diwas in Agra. In March 2015, Yadav had also written a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi conveying the same.

“Uttar Pradesh would like to host the 14th Pravasi Bharatiya Diwas to be held in 2016. We would like to organise the event in Agra, as it would provide the NRIs an added attraction of visiting the Taj Mahal and other historical monuments. I am hopeful that the Government of India will take a favourable decision in this regard,” said the chief minister in his letter to the Prime Minister.

However, when the state government didn’t get any response from the Centre, it decided to go ahead and organise its own NRI Diwas. “The state government did not receive any response from the Centre on the issue. So, it decided to proceed with its own NRI Diwas,” said a senior officer, adding that the state government had proposed to organise the UP NRI Diwas in Agra in 2015 as well.

However, it was deferred without citing any official reason.

The state government has fixed 100 US Dollars as the participation fee for the two-day event. As per the tentative programme, the state government proposes to confer the “Uttar Pradesh Ratna Puraskar” on some of the NRIs on the inaugural day on January 4. The event would include the chief minister’s address and speeches by prominent NRIs along with their presentations that would include an NRI’s perspective on connecting UP globally.